Spanish fresh fruit and vegetable exports took a tumble during July, falling in both volume and value terms when compared with the same month of 2015.

Fresh produce volumes were down 20.6 per cent year-on-year, Fepex reported, while value dropped 8.2 per cent, coming in at 857,654 tonnes and €772.6m respectively.

The data showed that fresh fruit, which accounted for 73 per cent of overall fresh produce volumes exported in July, recorded a sharp decline of 22.5 per cent in volume and 13 per cent in value, totaling 626,930 tonnes and €542.5m.

Watermelon shipments fell 23.5 per cent in volume, totaling 174,341 tonnes, at a value of €69.7m (-23.3 per cent), while melons stood at 115,409 tonnes (-16.2 per cent) and €74.2m (-3.1 per cent).

In the stonefruit category, nectarine volumes declined 19 per cent to with 100,737 tonnes, worth €84.7m (-17.2 per cent), and peaches dropped 18.2 per cent to 84,054 tonnes and 14.2 per cent to €77.2m euros.

The export of vegetables stood at 230,724 tonnes in July, down 15 per cent, although value actually bucked the trend by rising 5 per cent to €230.1m.

Onions, potatoes, peppers, garlic and tomatoes were the main vegetables exported through the month,

By contrast, shipments of garlic rose 37.4 per cent to 28.062 tonnes, and potato imports grew 0.9 per cent to 32,508 tonnes.

In the same month, Spanish imports of fruit and vegetables grew by 14 per cent, coming in at 191,057 tonnes, driven in particular by lemons, kiwifruit, tomatoes and green beans. In value terms, imports grew by 19.5 per cent to €168.7m.